Best of British

Royal Ascot is a quintessentially British occasion, and besides tea, moaning and scones, you don’t get much more British than Her Majesty.

The Queen attends all five days of Royal Ascot, and whether you’re betting on the colour of her hat (we like duck-egg blue) or who will join her in the royal procession, the meeting just wouldn’t be the same without her.

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She won Thursday’s showpiece event, the Gold Cup, with Estimate in 2013, and this year her famous purple and scarlet silks will be carried by Dartmouth in Saturday’s Hardwicke Stakes, a race he won last year.

Magic Moore

Opinion ridden by Ryan Moore wins the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes in 2013

Real Madrid have Ronaldo, Barca have Messi, racing has Ryan Moore.

Widely hailed as the most talented jockey in the world, he is quite simply the man to follow in the big races. And his powerful alliance with record-breaking trainer Aidan O’Brien - more of that later - means if it’s winners you’re after, then Ryan’s your go-to man.

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Moore set a modern-day record for the number of winners at a single meeting at Royal Ascot two years ago when he partnered nine (yes, nine) horses to victory, an incredible achievement on the biggest stage of all.

Showman Frankie Dettori’s flying dismounts may wow the crowds in the Ascot winner’s enclosure, but Moore’s ruthless efficiency on the track makes him the punter’s pal.

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The American raiders have also proved a force to be reckoned with - last year Tepin struck for the stars-and-stripes squad in Tuesday’s Queen Anne Stakes - and blink and you’ll miss Wesley Ward’s speedy sprinters, as speedballs such as No Nay Never, Hootenanny, Acapulco, Undrafted and Lady Aurelia have all stolen the show in recent years.

Awesome Aidan

There aren’t many records Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien hasn’t broken.

O’Brien has enjoyed 55 Royal Ascot winners in his time - he’s still 20 winners shy of Sir Michael Stoute’s record of 75 - and it would be a monumental shock if he were to fail to add to that haul this year.

O’Brien’s unprecedented dominance is to a deadly degree and everything he does is conducted with meticulous precision.

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Sporting his dark black shades and with his trusty iPhone in hand, he’s often seen walking the course ahead of racing or saddling his runners before they go out to do battle - only to welcome them back victorious moments later.

One thing’s certain, wherever O’Brien goes, success follows.

Girl power

Josephine Gordon waits in the stalls at Sandown racecourse on June 8, 2017 in Esher (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Last year jockey Josephine Gordon matched the achievements of Hayley Turner in winning the champion apprentice title (Amy Ryan has also achieved the same feat), and this year Gordon could become only the second woman in history to win a race at the royal meeting following Gay Kelleway’s ground-breaking success 30 years ago.

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Having forged profitable relationships with some of the most powerful stables around, Gordon will continue to fly the flag for the girls and could well have a winning chance in Wednesday’s Royal Hunt Cup on Fastnet Tempest, a talented type on whom she won at the course in May.